Stolen Crowns
by xoInfinityxo
Summary: Percy; Prince of Oceania and engaged to Princess Piper of Olympus. Annabeth; local thief trying to feed her starving family. What happens when Annabeth comes up with the perfect crime of robbing the royal castle of Oceania? Will she be caught by the guards and banished forever? Or will she end up stealing more than just gold and steal the prince's heart? Percabeth. Jasper.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer; I don't own PJO or the characters. I don't own the photo cover.**

 **Chapter 1**

The loud clatter of hooves pounded against the gravel path, leading through the forest. Annabeth waited, crouched behind the thick branches of bushes, her heart beating against her chest. She glanced up out of the corner of her eye and spotted Thalia leaning against the tree trunk of the branch she was perched on.

She nodded towards Annabeth, her bow knocked at her neck. To Annabeth's right, Leo kneeled next to a boulder, just his curls peeking out from above. Across the gravel path hid Luke, hiding behind the bushes, as Nico stayed perched in a tree, his bow and arrows also ready to fly.

The clatter of the horses got louder, the carriage coming closer. Soon, the carriage came into view, pristine and white; the carriage of a noble, heading to the royal castle.

Not yet…not yet…

Annabeth waited, waiting for Luke's signal.

The carriage rumbled closer.

Annabeth's eyes searched for Luke's. And then he brought his forefinger to his lips, and the whistle of that of a sparrow's sounded from the sky. That was their cue.

The carriage was about three seconds from passing them, when one of Thalia's arrows flew with a whizzing sound from behind it. It landed right in the shoulder of the driver of the carriage, and he let out a cry as he fell to the ground. The horses reared back in shock, and that's when Annabeth jumped up from her hiding spot.

Leo had already destroyed the wheels, and Nico's flaming arrow hit the roof of the carriage. Annabeth flung open the door, reveling two noble women, frightened and screaming.

"If you wish to live, leave now, or else your carriage will burn!" Annabeth yelled, moving out of the way for them to run. They scrambled out of the carriage, crying as they raced down the path. Luke unhitched the horses, and they ran away as well. The driver, however, could not be saved.

Luke had a motto he liked to follow; save anyone who is salvageable enough to save. They weren't murderers, they were just thieves.

They probably had two minutes before the whole carriage erupted in flames, so each of them grabbed as many goods as they could. Bags and bags of jewelry and gold. Annabeth laughed in pure joy at all of the money. They would eat for weeks!

"Let's go!" Luke shouted, and the group raced off, away from the burning carriage. The bags of riches bounced by their sides as they raced off into the forest. Thalia let out a war cry as they hurried towards their base, and each of them hollered in approval.

The sound of gold jingling by her side made Annabeth's heart race, and she knew her dad and brothers would be all set for food for at least two months with this amount of gold.

She knew her father didn't approve of her methods, but even if he gave her disappointed looks whenever she came home with pounds of bread and food for days, he shut his mouth and ate the food. It was because he knew that without Annabeth's thefts, they would have starved ages ago.

She had to do, what she had to do.

* * *

A knock at the door caused Percy to turn his head. He had just finished adjusting his suit and robe, flattening out any wrinkles and bumps

"Come in," he announced, while turning to face himself in the mirror again. His green eyes shone back at him through the mirror, and he adjusted a few pieces of his dark hair so he didn't look like he just rolled out of bed.

"You dress up nice, Perce."

Percy's cousin, Jason, walked up behind Percy in the mirror. He was dressed in a dark suit with a red robe draped over his shoulders. Percy almost matched him, but he was in his dark blue suit with golden stitches and embroidery. It was his favorite.

"Back at you," Percy said with a grin. He turned away from the mirror and walked over towards his dresser. He put on the golden ring his father gave him when he turned sixteen. It was studded with sea-green gems, and Percy wore it wherever he went.

"Could you please look at least happy to be going to this thing?" Jason asked while he followed his cousin.

"But I'm not happy," Percy pointed out obviously.

"You've never even met the girl-"

"I don't have to." Percy said, rather harshly. He looked up at Jason, and sighed. "Sorry."

"I know it's not your ideal way to get married, but just think about all of the benefits," Jason pointed out. Percy sighed and twisted his ring around his finger.

"Oceania and Olympus joined together will be nearly unstoppable. Your marriage to Princess Piper will ensure peace between the lands for generations to come," Jason continued. "Besides, I heard Princess Piper is insanely beautiful."

Jason cracked a grin at his cousin, and Percy hated how infectious Jason's smile was, because soon he was smiling himself.

"We'll see," Percy said with a grin.

There was another knock at the door.

"Enter," Percy announced. In came one of Percy's guards, bowing before he entered completely.

"Excuse me, Your Highnesses, but your father insists that you be escorted to the lunch now," the guard said.

"Thank you, we'll be on our way," Percy said. The guard bowed once more before he exited the room. Percy turned towards Jason and sighed.

"Here we go."


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry I haven't updated in a while! I've been so busy, but I am back, don't worry.**

 **Chapter 2**

Percy and Jason walked down the stairs towards the ballroom where Piper and her family were waiting. As of right now, the king and queen of Olympia were talking with Percy's parents. Percy's heart fluttered with nerves as he and Jason approached his future wife.

"Ah, Perseus, come here," Poseidon said, turning towards his son. Jason lagged behind as Percy walked closer. Poseidon placed a hand on Percy's shoulder, and grinned with pride.

"King Tristan, Queen Aphrodite, I'd like you to meet my son, Perseus," Poseidon said. King Tristan stepped forward and held out his hand. He was a tall man, with dark Cherokee skin and dark brown hair. He was strongly built, and his grip on Percy's hand was strong.

"Nice to meet you, Perseus," he said. Percy bowed his head in respect towards the other king.

Queen Aphrodite nodded her head towards Percy.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, your majesties," Percy said while putting his hands behind his back.

"The pleasure is ours," Queen Aphrodite said.

"I'd like you to meet our daughter. Princess Piper," King Tristan said while turning towards the princess. Jason was right, Piper was beautiful. She had the same tanned skin as her father, and her chocolate hair was choppy with braids, but her eyes were extremely captivating, changing from blues, to greens, to silvers. She curtsied to Percy, as he bowed his head to her as well.

"Your grace," Piper said.

"Your majesty," Percy said to her.

"Well, now that we're all acquainted, shall we eat?" Poseidon said.

"That sounds wonderful," King Tristan agreed. The two kings walked together towards the front of the group while Piper and Percy lagged behind. They were both silent, though the silence wasn't awkward. Percy didn't exactly know what to ask her about, so they continued walking in silence.

"Your home is beautiful," Piper said while looking around at the castle.

"Thank you."

More silence…

"Princess, may I introduce you to my cousin, Prince Jason of Jupiter Kingdom?" Percy said while gesturing towards Jason who was lurking behind them. Jason looked shocked, not expecting Percy to bring attention to him.

Piper turned and saw Jason before smiling.

"Nice to meet you, Jason," Piper said. Jason's face was flushed as he stammered to find his words.

"T-The pleasure's all mine," Jason said. Piper giggled while curtsying towards him.

"I've never been to the kingdom of Jupiter," Piper said. "What's it like?"

"Well…"

Percy picked up his pace a little bit, letting the two chat. He put his hands in his pockets and glanced at one of the pictures on the wall. His heart twisted as he saw the family portrait hanging on the wall. It was a large tapestry that his father had made for them about a year ago. It was the king and queen, Percy, his illegitimate older brother, Triton, who his father had out of wedlock three years before Percy, and Percy's younger sister, River. At the sight of his sister, Percy fought back the urge to cry. Princess River passed away earlier this year due to a mysterious illness.

She was only twelve, being six years younger than Percy, but they were so close that Percy had gone through a deep depression when she passed away. He locked himself in his room for days, and only came out when he was forced.

The royal family had the best doctors in the entire land come in and try to heal the princess, but there was nothing they could do. She had something they had never seen before, and they tried everything they could to heal her.

"Perseus? Are you alright?" Princess Piper asked, bringing Percy back to reality. He jumped slightly, and turned to his future wife and his cousin.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Thank you. Oh, and please call me Percy," Percy said with a smile. Jason watched his cousin worriedly. He knew what was bothering Percy, but he decided to remain quiet. He would tell Piper when he was ready, and it wasn't up to Jason to bring up the topic of River.

"Are you sure?" Piper asked. Percy smiled and nodded.

"Thank you for caring," Percy said. "We're at the dining room. Let's go eat." Piper smiled and followed Percy into the dining room.

* * *

Annabeth, Thalia, Luke, Nico, and Leo all sat around the table in the pub, celebrating their recent victory. This bar was always crowded, as it was in the center of town, but they always managed to snag the table in the back corner.

"Good job guys," Luke said with a grin while taking a long swig of his beer.

"I'll drink to that," Leo agreed while also taking a drink of his beer. The group of teenagers laughed as they continued to chat about their victory. Music played loudly from the live entertainment in the bar, and a bar fight broke up near the main counters. This kind of behavior was normal for this part of town… so Annabeth just looked on.

"Hey, I heard you guys popped a job today," Clarisse La Rue said while walking over with a cup of beer in her hand. She grinned while sitting next to Leo.

"We got five thousand gold coins," Thalia boasted.

"Hey impressive," Clarisse said with a smile. "But, Beckondorf and I came up with the perfect idea for a robbery."

"Let's hear it," Leo urged.

Clarisse leaned in, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "The castle."

" _What_?" Annabeth hissed.

"Shh!" Clarisse scolded. "It's the best place to rob. Think about it, if you think five thousand coins is a lot, imagine _five hundred_ thousand gold coins."

"How are you ever going to get inside?" Thalia asked. "Do you know how many guards are at the castle?"

"That's why we have to go this Friday," Clarisse said.

"The ball," Luke spoke up, realization covering his face. Clarisse smiled when Luke picked up.

"It's perfect timing!" Luke said with a grin.

"What? I'm lost," Leo said, looking around in confusion.

"The King and Queen are holding a ball for the engagement of Prince Percy and Princess Piper of Olympia," Luke explained. "Nobles from all over the country and the neighboring countries will be there. It'll be simple to sneak in and out. There will be so many people there, no one will notice us."

"Exactly," Clarisse said.

"It's perfect," Annabeth grinned. "I can finally get enough money to move me and my family to the kingdom of Jupiter to get out of our slum."

"And I can get enough money to bail my sister out of jail," Nico said.

"Let's do it," Thalia said with a grin.

"Those scum royals deserve it anyways," Luke snarled. Annabeth burned with hatred. She _loathed_ the royal family of Oceania. There was a huge line between the upper class and the lower class, and the royals seemed to only care about the upper class. The people that were in poverty were left to die in the high crime rates of their part of the kingdom and the high starvation rates. When the plague broke out ten years ago, the royal family completely secluded themselves away from the rest of the kingdom. They only care about themselves which is why Annabeth needs to move her family out of there.

She can't wait to bring them to Jupiter Kingdom and they can start over.

"So it's a plan?" Clarisse asked.

"It's a plan," Annabeth confirmed with a grin.

The perfect crime.


End file.
